Police use Gestapo like violence on peaceful trade protestors in Miami

Last November, the FTAA held a trade summit in Miami, Florida. Thousands of peaceful protestors, many of which were union workers, were confronted with heavy handed violence by the police.

The Minnesota Fair Trade Coalition's human billboard, 2002.

Police State

Police used violence against peaceful protesters in Miami and violated people's Constitutional rights to protest. Police were heavily armed with protective riot gear and armed with tear-gas, pepper-spray, batons, tasers, and guns that fired rubber bullets, pepper pellets, "bean-bags," and other projectiles.

Arrest

Police assaulted and arrested protesters, usually without cause, at the FTAA protests

Tasered

Police tasered this man at the entrance to a permitted rally sponsored by CTC, the AFL-CIO, and other groups. Officers then forced CTC members, Steelworkers, and others to lie face down on the ground at gunpoint

Shooting

Video taken by independent journalists shows that police began firing rubber bullets and pepper pellets at protesters without cause outside a large permitted rally on November 20.

Bloodied Protester

Police shot this woman in the back and head with rubber bullets while she was attempting to move away from an advancing line of riot police.
Hit in the Face

Volunteer medics assisted injured protesters and bystanders in Miami.

Tank

Police were equipped with tank-like armored personnel carriers. The City of Miami was allotted $8.5 million from appropriations for military and reconstruction operations in Iraq and Afghanistan to use during the FTAA protests.

Jail: Solidarity Protest

Demonstrators protest at a rally in front of the City of Miami Jail, November 21, 2003. Demonstrators who gathered outside a Miami jail to protest the arrest of their colleagues during this week's trade talks were themselves arrested after defying police orders to disperse. Photo by Marc Serota/Reuters

Police Move Towards Jail

Pedestrians move aside as police in riot gear move down the street towards the City of Miami Jail, in Miami, Florida November 21, 2003. Police arrested over 40 more people November 21st at the jail solidarity rally. Over a hundred were arrested November 20 during the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) meetings. REUTERS/Marc Serota

Police Chief John Timoney

Miami Police Chief John Timoney oversaw police operations in Miami for the FTAA protests. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Photos courtesy Citizens Trade Campaign  www.citizenstrade.org